


Exordium

by maharieel



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Blood, F/M, Murder, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7210253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maharieel/pseuds/maharieel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaidan Alenko watches as the infamous Noa Shepard kills a man. Anderson is pissed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exordium

If there was one thing he could have had in the entire galaxy, Kaidan would have died for a better sense of direction. It wasn’t even like the Citadel was a hard place to maneuver (the signage was nothing if not thorough) but he was just a hopeless idiot who couldn’t find his way around. All he wanted to do was get to the docking bay so the fact that he’d been assigned to the Normandy could finally sink in. But no, of course he had to make everything hard for himself. Excitement may have been playing a key role in his loss of direction. Over a decade of service and he still managed to get himself in a frenzy over things like this. It was almost embarrassing. 

Now would be the only time to let emotions cloud his judgement though: once on board, precision would be the only thing that mattered. With such a high-tech ship, there was no room for error. Better to get all his feelings out before stepping inside (how long his composure would last still remained to be seen). 

Rounding the corner, he sighed as a sign indicating the docking bay flashed. _About damn time._

That was when he heard it – the muffled sound of fist meeting flesh echoed to his ears and immediately Kaidan was alert, fingers twitching for the pistol at his hip. An alley broke off from the main walkway a few metres down from him and within seconds he was staring – 

_Holy shit._

A woman. There was a woman standing at the end of the alley, cloaked in shadows, as she beat the absolute crap out of the sorry bastard at her feet. He was curled into a tight ball, gasping for air with every contact of her boot with his gut. Surely that couldn’t be good for his ribs, especially considering the amount of force she seemed to be putting into every swing. The sound of the man’s cruel laugh stopped Kaidan from interrupting. Momentarily, at least.

_What the hell is going on here?_

“That the best – yous can do,” the man slurred, spitting blood at the woman’s feet. 

She’d stopped kicking him now, intent to stare down at him. “You and I both know I’m just getting started if you don’t start using that stupid fucking mouth of yours to tell me something worthwhile.” Goosebumps raced along Kaidan’s skin at the smooth tone of her voice. 

The man spat again. “As if I’d tell a bitch like you anythin’. I owes you nothin’.”

Everything collided at once. The man was off the ground, the woman’s hand gripped firm around his throat as she smashed his back against the wall with so much force Kaidan felt the vibrations from the end of the alley. A cry of agony bounced off the alley walls as she smashed him again, bringing her face within millimetres of his. “I told you lot to leave me the fuck alone,” she said, voice turned venomous. “I don’t like asking for things twice.”

And then the man was dead. 

Nothing but a crumpled heap of bones and flesh at her feet with a knife protruding from his gut. Kaidan pulled his pistol instantly, eyes trailing the woman’s every movement. _I need C-Sec. I need backup._

Kicking the corpse out of the way, she began walking towards him. The tension in him almost made his teeth chatter. “Stand down and I won’t have to use this!” Now she was laughing. It wasn’t cold, or cruel – no, it was light, as if he’d just told her a stupid joke. His mind was spinning so fast as he tried to figure out the situation that he was positive a headache would find him in the not-so-distant future. Half way down the alley she crouched and grabbed what appeared to be a jacket that was too big to possibly be hers, oblivious to the gun aimed between her eyes as she slung it over her shoulder. 

“I think we’d both appreciate that, Staff Lieutenant.”

He froze. _How in the hell does she . . ?_

The light of the main walkway hit her all at once and Kaidan felt like he’d been hit by a train. He took a step backwards, pistol dropping as he tried to control his features. _Shit, shit, shit._ The scarring. The armour. The _eyes._ How had he been so blind? 

“Nice to know you’re not shy to pull it out,” she said, eyeing his pistol as he holstered it and completely unaware of the truth behind his uneasy relationship with the gun now at his hip. His hands were trembling slightly, and the fact that she was dragging her eyes over every inch of him didn’t ease the sick feeling navigating his throat. 

_This can’t be happening._

Finally, those green eyes of hers met his and he felt whatever was left of his stomach fall out of his ass as she smirked at him. Her knuckles were battered and she was covered in specks of blood. “Shit, you’re even hotter than your ID. Anderson picks his crew well.”

And then she was gone, wandering off down the hall, not caring about the body and pools of blood that she’d left in her wake. A C-Sec officer came running around the corner, took one look at the scene and sighed. Kaidan was still struggling to breathe. 

_Shepard._

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anderson was royally pissed. Honestly, Noa half expected him to slap her from the look on his face. He wasn’t the kind to lose his temper often, especially not in front of the crew – he was the Captain; he had an image to uphold. Apparently not today.

“I thought you were done, Shepard?” he snapped. “You told me you were done.”

Noa sighed, rolling her eyes. The Bridge was definitely not the best place to be having this argument. Some of the crew knew how this went, but most of them . . . well, this was project zero for them. Seeing their CO and XO butting heads probably wasn’t doing much for morale.

“I was done,” she said, slipping into the cold anger she’d learnt to master so many years ago. “Not my problem if an idiot like him walks into my knife.”

Anderson huffed out a laugh which only pissed Noa off more. _He’s never gonna fucking understand, is he?_ Moving so their chests were almost touching, she wanted to scream at the fact that she couldn’t look down on him. He’d been there – he’d seen the life she’d led. He’d known she was shit from the start. As much she tried, her past wouldn’t leave her the fuck alone. She knew he knew it.

He held his ground. _Stills know how to handle me too well, dick._ “You disappointed me today, Shepard. You better remind me why I want you on this ship down on Eden Prime. I expect more from my XO.”

The smirk was an accident. “You shouldn’t.”

Silence throbbed across through the Normandy’s walls: everyone had stilled, eyes turned to pay witness to the argument that brewed like a storm. Anderson wasn’t a show pony though. He only waited another moment before disappearing towards the Com Room. 

_Sorry guys. No fireworks today._

She felt everyone let out a collective sigh of relief as she too left the scene. The Vehicle Bay was the only place that she could have a joint without setting off alarms.  
(The fact that it put three floors between her and Anderson had absolutely nothing to do with it.)


End file.
